Changes
by carolairds
Summary: Therese never could love Richard because he was so indecisive, she thinks she better make up her mind.
1. War

**Pairing:** Carol Aird/Therese Belivet.  
 **Rating:** SFW.  
 **Summary:** Therese could never love Richard because he was so indecisive, she thinks she better make up her mind.  
 **Other:** Slight angst, mostly just takes off a few days after The Price of Salt.

* * *

Winter is turning into Spring. The weather doesn't quite know what it's doing and maybe that's reminiscent of how she feels. Therese's mood changes daily but her affections do not. It's Carol she's decided on, it's Carol that her brain can only think of, that her heart can only feel for but it's the life with Carol that's plaguing Therese. I'm different, the woman thinks silently. She doesn't quite know how it comes upon herself, but it does. Memories, the past, of a time that positively tore her apart. She's in what Richard would call one of those far away moods. It's just her, Therese's whole personality. Her own little world, her own little life, so when she truly fell into someone, it was the angel flung from outer space back into the living realm. Maybe Richard wasn't so bad, she thinks. He had a point but he was indecisive and it's that thought that makes her frown. She's being indecisive. When Carol first came around, she knew what she wanted. Carol. To move in with Carol, to dote on Carol but that isn't her anymore. Carol hasn't asked again, but Therese has purposely shut all doors to ask. It's the romance Therese had wanted, the fantasy, the envelopment of true love, everlasting, the spark of two souls. Yet, she knows that can't really happen.

The ground outside is sparkling with the day's rain. The weather had been light, warm but still rainy. Therese's arms are crossed over her chest. "... is selling." The end of Carol's words finally reach her ears and that's something else that's also so far off from what Therese had been. That changes too. That day in the Oak Room when she silently realized she needed a piece of Carol in her life, that she'd always think of Carol, she also realized she wasn't truly with Carol. Carol's mood has been light, happier, she doesn't seem as locked away but there's a piece of Therese that still ultimately hurts and resentment addles up her spine, making the hairs on the back of her neck rise and it's in those moments she needs her space from Carol. They need not run from anything anymore, but Therese still seemed to be running from something. She just has yet to stop and think about it.

Therese doesn't answer Carol, eyes still focused on the rain changing into snow. There's beer on the windowsill in front of her she barely has yet to touch. Right now she's back in outer space, 'far away' mood. "Therese?" Carol inquires and Therese swallows, realizing she ought to answer without alerting Carol but it's already like Carol to have known a few moments ago. It's been a rocky two days for a relationship. Therese is busy setting up her sets for the play and Carol is busy putting her foot in the door of the furniture store but as it turns out they're a natural at both and in a few days time, it'll slow down. This is the first night that they've been alone, instead of just a quick run for lunch. Carol's apartment was small, but it was still divine in the way only Carol could make it.

Therese turns, eyes on Carol without really seeing her. She'd rather not see that knowing look in Carol's gray eyes, or the curvature of Carol's brow that would suggest Therese should come back to her. This is Carol and Carol can spot that mood just as Richard could, along with every other emotion and mood. "I think I should head out for the night. I have a busy day tomorrow." Therese finally says, eyes looking away from Carol's face. There's a moment of silence, a beat but it's deafening none the less.

"Why don't I walk you to the door?" Carol asks and Therese just shakes her head. Therese was coming back to herself - growing up - and a it's a million thoughts clogging her consciousness but at the moment, she wasn't coming back to Carol Aird. A single moment of discovery brought on by the weather outside. How absurd. Therese felt a lump welling in her throat, an onslaught of tears that would come if she doesn't escape Carol's apartment.

"No, stay. It's cold out there." She ventures as an offer of kindness. She looks at Carol but she doesn't see Carol, so Therese just turns to leave. Heading towards the door in a steady haste. Her words had seemed calm, her pace peaceful but there was an emotional distance Therese was pushing between them. She hates how the trip had just come to her, weighing down the mood, the peaceful air Carol was giving from being free of Harge. None of that is the reason she needed to be alone. It was the sudden, jerking realization that her love for Carol had become a paradox.

She wanted Carol, but she didn't trust Carol.

Therese was afraid of the overwhelming loneliness she had felt in Carol's absence. A piece of her just wanted to turn and ask, but the last time Carol promised, Harge had hammered a wedge between the two. She just had to trust that wouldn't happen now and she needed to find that. Putting a hundred miles between them doesn't seem so haunting as it once did and that's the exact reason she needed distance. She's being physically distant for that reason.

"Will you call me tomorrow?" Carol asked with Therese opening the door and Therese paused for a second before stepping outside.

"Yes," she answered automatically, shutting the door behind herself.

Although, she thinks that if Carol asked, she would have slept in Carol's arms that night and maybe that's the exact reason she didn't give Carol enough time to ask. She heads home that night with a new found fear of being physically close to Carol. Therese goes to bed with a heavy heart and an indecision to give into the fact that Carol will always be her universe.

Sleep clouded Therese's consciousness and she awoke much later than she hoped. Due both to the fact that Harkevy himself is taking it slow and that she's only spent an hour or so at a time the past two days with Carol, she's had to find a way to fill the time. She's finished Harkevy's set already and her plan is to go into the office and show it to him. Here's the thing, Carol is on her mind. Carol will always be on her mind but a few months prior before Hargess, the divorce and on the trip that took Carol and Therese across the country, she could never deny Carol. She'd jump at Carol's every word but now age quickly crept up on Therese and here she stands with a new found passion for succeeding. Maybe it wasn't so newfound, she has run before (left) just because she was fired. Maybe a piece of her remembers the light in Carol's eyes, the way Carol was ultimately more attracted to Therese the moment she relayed she was a designer. Carol's little hotshot.

Unfortunately for Therese, her plan at showing the set worked a little too well. Harkevy changed a few things, but overall the meeting lasted no more than an hour and she was out. The few minor changes is something Therese could do in a short amount of time. She was early finishing the set as it was. Which means one thing, the night was free and to add to it, when Harkevy and Therese were chatting, Genevieve waltzed in. The beautiful actress... that so sorely reminded Therese of Carol. Eyes peeled away from the beautiful woman and Therese said her goodbyes because she owed Carol a telephone call.

Therese used the phone in the lobby of her apartment building. She knows the change in emotions is tiring but she's weary, she's in love. Except now it came down to one thing. A little time away from Carol each day and she did miss Carol. Maybe this was making up her mind. She knew she could succeed that she could walk away from Carol as Carol did to her. That it was plausible. Is that all she needed? Therese hated the fact she wasn't quite sure if she was in a relationship with Richard or what it was. There's no need to do that now. Therese picks up the phone with trembling hands, such a realization that Carol Aird makes her feel so much.

"Hello?" Carol answers the phone, on the second ring. Therese breaths out and there's a silence that lets Therese know that Carol is already aware of who's on the other end of the line.

"Hello, Carol." Therese replies. "How about you come over to my place for dinner, say about six?" Therese closes her eyes and there's another pause but in it she pictured a smiling Carol. Therese didn't hesitate to make a move.

"I'd love to, darling." Carol's voice is happier than it had been on the trip, it's something Therese notices each time they speak now. It's the single reminder for Therese, that Carol gave up her fight for Rindy, didn't give into her demands from Hargess for the ability to be free. To be free to love Therese. So, Therese bids Carol a farewell with a smile and hangs up the phone. Decision finally made.


	2. Peace

Carol isn't late, Therese remarked silently. At least she's hoping that's Carol knocking at the door (Carol is probably the only person the landlady lets in the building, also.) In fact, Therese looks at the simple clock hanging on the wall and furrows her eyebrows. Carol is on time. Therese stirs the pasta on the stove, wipes her hands on a towel and quickly heads towards the door. There's no nervous flutters, a part of her doesn't even believe that could be Carol and a part of her is still in shock about Carol being back in her life. She pulls the door open and when it is, in fact, Carol she barely conceals the shock on her features. It doesn't necessarily help that when the door opened, their eyes met almost instantly. A chill races through the air, instant and Therese is the child that forgets to breathe. There's no concealing that emotion written all across her features. All she can do is take a step back because it's clearly evident there's no where else Therese would like Carol to be.

"You're on time." Therese states and it's meant to be a joke but her voice catches and it's said far too emotionally for it to be a simply joke. It was only a second she looked away, watching her own hand like it wasn't actually attached to herself push her own door shut before Therese looked back. Their eyes met again and Carol hadn't really moved another muscle, hadn't put her purse down, stepped across the threshold of Therese's apartment anymore. Carol was just looking at Therese and in those gray eyes was a certain sadness, Carol's mouth in a line, just like she was disappointed. It's not too often Carol reveals a sadness, but it was wide open and when Therese opened her mouth to say something else, she realized her mistake. She had taken a step closer. There suddenly wasn't enough space in between them, while there was far too much space.

"Traffic was kind to me today, I couldn't bare having another reason to apologize to you, Therese." Carol replied, her voice steady but her eyes were not. Therese just meant to reply, say she understands (and she does, it just doesn't hurt any less) but when she opens her mouth, she finds it connected to Carol's. She doesn't know who moved first, or if they moved at the same time but it felt like gravity had yanked them towards each other and all Therese was consciously aware of was the fact she was kissing Carol and Carol was kissing her that chills still electrified her spine. A hand reached up, the tips of two fingers lightly pressing against the skin of Carol's collarbone, where her sweater seperated to reveal it. It was a slight push, more to steady herself than anything else. She wasn't trembling but when they pulled away from the kiss simultaneously, Therese's breathing was definitely trembling.

"There's - I have pasta on the stove." Therese breathed out, eyes opening after she took a step away from Carol. Carol was looking at her with those gray eyes, a small smile curling just the corner of Carol's lips. Carol with her jacket still on, a purse still on one hand and the other hand falling, like it was reaching up to touch Therese but Therese had moved before Carol could do so. Therese took a step back, blinking. She pointed to the couch in her small living room. "Have a seat." A pause. "Please." Carol nodded her reply and Therese didn't notice until she stepped back into the kitchen that one hand was balled into a fist, short fingernails digging into skin. Her heart was still racing. She had to flex her hands to get out the tension building up in her body.

Some time later, with Carol smoking in the living room and no voices filling the small apartment, Therese finally took another deep breath and brought out dinner. Already on plates. Carol turned her head to the sound of Therese walking into the living room, legs crossed, a plume of smoke cirling Carol's head. Therese smiled when she walked around the couch and something akin to pride filled Carol's eyes when they looked at each other. Her dinner did smell quite delicious. She had already made up the plates, set one in front of Carol and exited again only to return with a pair of drinks in wine glasses.

"Are you ever going to tell me about your new job with Harkevy or do I have to keep asking?" Carol asked, quietly that small bit of impatience shining through. With the fork in Therese's mouth, she looked up towards the older woman and simply raised a brow. She bit down, slowly pulling the fork away from her mouth, sliding it through her fingers and finally setting it back down on the plate. Carol tilted her head out of curiosity and Therese was originally just going to answer, but when her eyes met gray eyes yet again, there was something else within them that sent another chill racing up Therese's spine. It's moments like these that Therese remembers they were lovers, that the beautiful woman opposite of her had confessed her love for Therese, moments like these when Carol looks at Therese like she was the only person in the universe, that she wanted Therese that Therese has to wonder how she got so lucky. While she's still weary, slightly frightened, there's no fighting the rising lump in her throat or the attraction she was suddenly feeling for Carol.

"I'd rather you eat the dinner I just made for us." Therese replied, her voice low and playful. Carol's smile turned into a small laugh. The woman turned, put out her cigarette and instantly went for the food. She raised her fork, a small indication that she was enjoying what she was eating. Therese bowed her head, a full fledged smile appearing on her features. There isn't quite anything that beats the small moments of peace that come after a battle. Forgiveness doesn't have to be the words: 'it's okay,' it can be laughter over a dinner. 


	3. Battle grounds

Silence fills the air. It isn't awkward, but it isn't quite peaceful, either. Therese is lying on her back, hands clasped over her stomach. She forgot how small her bed is until she's lying in it with Carol Aird while purposefully trying not to touch. That didn't work out as planned. Their upper arms are touching. Every time they adjust, even just the slightest, their legs and hips brush. Therese would like to reach out, ask Carol to hold her but she's being difficult. She's independent now (still curses the loneliness when Carol left, still doesn't trust her). Her room is dark but if she turned her head, she'd be able to recognize the outline of Carol sleeping on her stomach, face facing away from Therese, a hand lazily and comfortably resting just before Carol's face on the bed. The usual way Carol sleeps. That hasn't changed.

Therese's mind still continues to run rampant and to think she has a meeting tomorrow with Harkevy about the sets. She's free after that, but the meeting is still in the morning. Eyes close, but she doesn't sleep. Her mind is still running a race. Thinking, over-analyzing, worrying, untrusting and afraid.

Carol shifts just the slightest beside Therese, arms and hips brushing. Therese breathes in slowly.

 _"This is Therese Belivet." Carol announces with a cheer in her voice. Therese has to do everything in her power to remove the look of confusion from her features, so unlike Carol._

 _Carol is happier,_ Therese remarks silently, still with her eyes closed in her dark room. _No, maybe not happier, free._

 _She doesn't fail to notice the knowing look the man next to Carol gives her and when a waiter finally brings a chair, Carol introduces him as her lawyer and Therese has to look away from his judgmental eyes but other than the weary indiscretion, the rest of the night is filled with light conversation. Boring until the moment Carol rests a hand on Therese's leg, just above her knee, nails biting even through the fabric of the new dress she bought. Just a bit of the possessive nature Carol holds, only for a second._

Maybe it was a thank you, Carol hasn't done it again. That grip of hers, that silent way of saying _'stay, don't go, you belong here,'_ and Therese would be lying to herself if she were to say she doesn't miss it. God, does Therese miss all of Carol's little quirks. The way she playfully pressed feet under a table, brushed by, all things done before Harge suddenly committed to stealing away Rindy. Therese breathes out again, she understands, but that didn't stop it from hurting any less. Still afraid, possibly still a child. She understands because it hits another piece of her heart she tried so hard to stow away. Her own mother's disappearance, exiting out of her life. Maybe this is why her mother left and maybe she can't hold it against her mother any longer, but she's grown so accustomed to anger, to sadness. To dealing with the worst. That these people didn't want her, that she couldn't be in their lives.

It's another change.

Carol mumbles from beside Therese and Therese turns her head to regard the sleeping form. Carol shifts, looking uncomfortable even in her sleep. Another, inaudible mumble. Another shift. Carol's dreaming, the first time Therese was privy to such an act. Although, this is the first night that they slept together under normal conditions. Without exhaustion from the day, without worry of a private detective, just a normal day before heading to bed. The first of those in the same bed.

"Rindy -" If the room wasn't so quiet, even the streets of New York were peaceful, Therese wouldn't have caught that mumble. Therese was about to reach out, suddenly not so worried about her own fears to comfort Carol before Carol breathed in deeply, shifting right into a sitting position, standing up and exiting to Therese's bathroom. Therese's hand just falls to the bed before she nods to herself. She made up a decision. Therese shifted onto her side, one hand stretching out across the bed, just under the pillow Carol was using. Shifting closer to the middle of the already small bed. When Carol came back out, eyebrows furrowed, there was only one option. Sleep in Therese's arms because it was Therese that was leaving that wide open.

"Can I hold you?" Therese asked, quietly. Carol didn't need to verbally answer, not when the older woman simply glided to the bed. She rested her head on the pillow, facing Therese this time. Therese rested her other hand on Carol's hip and Carol moved in until there was barely any room in between them and suddenly the bed was big enough for two women.

* * *

"She's put a wall the size of China in between us, Abby." Carol breathed out. A hand was over her eyes, the other resting wearily on a cup of coffee. There was no indignation in her voice, there was only truth. It bothered Carol, of course. It hurt, but she can't hold it against Therese. She wouldn't. She can't. Abby is silent for a minute. There's the light sound of nails flicking against Abby's own mug.

"She is different, isn't she?" Abby asks, but within the question lies more of a statement. Carol looks up slowly, hand falling to the counter. Impatience shining through as usual, but Abby is thinking. Abby, always with her answers. Abby, always being reliable. She'd be absolutely nowhere without Abby, but Abby (much to Abby's dismay) isn't the one Carol fell in love with. Abby can chalk it off to another Harge, a stir of the moment affection, but if there's one person that knows Carol best, it's certainly Abby and Carol has never been more light-hearted and free since she's met Therese. "As my personal opinion, I think you need to explain everything to her. Starting at the beginning. Open up a door to her and I'm sure she'll walk through."

Carol bowed her head both hands wrapping around the coffee mug. Third cup. Mid-afternoon and she woke up in Therese's apartment with only a short note, 'Lock the door when you leave, please.' No call, no appearance. Nothing.

"I think it's something else. Something different. She walks through, but than walks back out." Carol replies.

"She needs to start over." Abby answers.

 _Therese was so close, Carol could feel the younger woman's warm breath on her cheek. Steady, deep breathing. Carefully, without waking Therese, Carol rested her hand lightly on Therese's neck, a steady pulse just beating under her thumb. The younger woman had previously been gripping Carol's shoulder, but with heavy sleep easing into Therese, Carol could feel Therese's grasp fall away. She could feel her heart jolt, like that meant something, like it meant the worst. Therese's comfort was exactly what she needed after the cold nightmare of losing Rindy. Losing her daughter leaves a sure ache in her heart, but keeping up with Harge is a prison, a suffocation, losing freedom and the one woman that truly loved her for everything she really was, not everything Harge wanted her to be._

"So, we'll start over." Carol announced.

 _I will not lose the one person that soothed my soul. It's an abomination._

* * *

"Therese Belivet, come back to me, darling." Carol's voice was smooth, almost sultry and it made Therese furrow her brows. It made a chill run along her spine. She had to breathe out. Therese's eyes flicked back from Genevieve to Carol. Therese bowed her head, obvious embarrassment, guilt coloring her cheeks a certain color of pink. Carol blew out a puff of smoke and as much as Therese tried to hide it, she couldn't. Genevieve was quite a sight on the eyes, but it was pure coincidence that Therese had caught sight of her on the opposite side of the restaurant. Carol swiveled, cigarette still between her fingers, to follow Therese's line of sight.

A moment's pause before Carol looked back to Therese. "You haven't fallen for someone else, have you?" Carol inquired, but her voice was light. Actually, it was the first admittance of love since the night she was reunited with Therese. First actual, verbal of them being something else other than friends. Carol looked down, pressing out her cigarette in an ashtray. Therese felt her whole being suddenly drop. The room was suddenly far too constricting.

 _How dare she - she has no right!_ At the same time. _Like I could._

"She's an actress with Harkevy." There's a pause because that certainly wasn't an answer. "That night, before I came to see you in the Oak Room, I was with her. Just at a party. Just met her. I thought she was beautiful and than I felt guilty. I saw you in her." Another heavy pause, Therese's eyes burning into Carol's. The admission was far too much, Therese thought. Therese just swallowed, gathered up her purse and made a move to leave, but when Therese brushed by Carol, Carol grabbed Therese's wrist. Nails biting into skin.

When eyes meet eyes, Therese isn't trying to read into the gray eyes, she just looks. Doesn't move.

"I want to make it up to you." Carol whispers, emotions flickering strong across her features and Therese nods, sitting back down. "Please, for at least tonight, stop pushing me away."


	4. Recovery

The air is lighter, it's easier, the weight of the world isn't bearing down on Therese. The guilt of those months. She's carefree (although, it may be because of a few drinks). Therese was sitting at Carol's counter, topped with tile and quite quaint. Her finger was roaming over the pictures in her notebook, the sets she drew, countless pages of just scribbles, trying over and over again until she got it. This one in front of her that Harkevy barely corrected. She's been sitting at the stool for awhile. Talking about the job, Harkevy, the sets, what's needed for the mood of the play. She's been sitting and talking with Carol for hours, for once without a grimace on her face, or tension in her shoulders or the worry of being judged.

"I do believe it's going to be called Shadow of Heroes. This was the hardest scene. A man and his wife get captured, tortured, so the mood is dark. It's demented, but there's the small, flitting chance of hope in romance. As if that could ever save them." Therese said, unaware that her voice dropped to a whisper, unaware that this is a job she's truly fond of. Her focus wasn't on Carol. Her focus was on the job. She blinked. Smiled. "Before Harkevy accepted me as an assistant, I was ready to leave, again. California, I think. Somewhere completely new." Although, she failed to admit that she has a friend in California. She's not thinking of Carol, yet she's talking to Carol. She thinks of Dannie's strong hands and finally looks up. Carol is still on the other side of the counter. Carol's light eyes meet her own, a small smile twitching just the corner of Carol's lips. The older woman looks just slightly melancholic.

Independence is freeing but it's not independence she needs. She's had that just about all her life. She needs a strong connection with someone. Someone she can feel close with. Someone who won't abandon her. She almost wants to call Dannie, just to see what he's up to. Richard was never as kind or selfless as Dannie. But, neither Richard or Dannie can compare to Carol, so Therese has to lower her gaze, away from the intense grey eyes finding their way into Therese's soul again. She realizes she has to fall in love all over again.

And, she is.

Therese closes the book with her ideas, before sliding off the stool, smoothing out her shirt like there was actually time for it to wrinkle. "Which reminds me, I have to call my landlady. I gave her to the okay to show my apartment when she wanted." There's such a difference between those moments and the moments she has now. There was so much hopelessness in them. The fear of failure, on top of the abandonment. She was more than ready to run into Dannie's arms. Anything to find stability in her life. Maybe she was immature again. Harkevy was the last link to help her grow up. Stop her from running from all her problems, running, always running. Like her mother.

"The phone is in the living room." Carol answered and Therese's head tipped, towards the voice, but she didn't look at Carol.

"It's not fair, you know." Here she was, pouring out her feelings. There was a pause because Therese realized she was doing it again, pouring everything out when possibly that's not what Carol needed, not Carol with her own problems. Not Carol who thought of her as a child that needed to grow up. She didn't finish her thought, just left it hanging, took a few steps towards the kitchen doorway when there was a clink, Carol setting down her drink.

"What isn't, Therese?" Carol's voice was loud, it traveled through Carol's own, roomy apartment with fervor. It was dominant, a single force to keep Therese from leaving. Everything carefree about her in the previous 10 minutes fell away from Therese. She's doing this for Carol, even subconsciously when she's trying to be independent, she's being independent for Carol. Everything for Carol. It's Therese that thinks Carol doesn't care to hear her deepest thoughts and emotions. Therese's body turns towards Carol, but she doesn't look at Carol's face. Carol's arms are crossed and manicured fingernails are biting into Carol's own arms.

"I was ready to leave. Ready to move on. I have a friend in California, he could have helped me. Harkevy was the last step and I took it. I'm not mad at you, I'm not mad at my mother because of you. Maybe she had a sound reason for leaving her daughter behind. Maybe she was in love. She never took the time to tell me. I was so used to just resenting her, just like I was so used to just... whatever life I had with Richard. It was simple. Now it's complex. I can't hate my mother and I still want you. Resentment is easy. They won't leave you. Love is frightening." Therese's voice gets softer, she swallows, a lump is forming in her throat. She has to blink, she has to walk away for the fear of crying. "But, that's childish. Running. Thinking something isn't fair but really it was just good timing above all else. Getting the job, that is." The last words are said over her shoulder, as she's walking out of the kitchen. There's slight embarrassment, spilling her guts, mostly there's just a sudden onslaught of emotion. Therese sits down on the couch, pulling her legs up to her chest, one arm on her knees, the other reaching out for the phone. She cradles it in between her neck and shoulder and calls the landlady. Surprisingly she makes it through the conversation with a normal tone of voice and the landlady relays that she's happy Therese is staying (she's a good tenant).

"As is turns out, running doesn't get us anywhere." Carol whispers but Therese hears it because Carol is suddenly right there, arms wrapping around Therese. Carol pulls her own legs onto the couch, her knees just touching Therese's legs, one arm resting atop Therese's, another arm around Therese's shoulders. Carol pulls her close and Therese can feel her resolve slip. It's always this way with Carol, she feels everything, suddenly there isn't any barriers, finding new pieces of herself. Therese rolls her head before the lump in her throat hardens and she can feel the tears burning at her cheeks. Carol lays her head atop Therese's.

"Don't give up on Rindy. Tell her everything. Don't be like my mother." Therese whispers and she can feel Carol's grip tighten.

"I never truly gave up on you ei-" It's Therese that cuts Carol off.

"Don't. That doesn't matter." There's a breathy silence, Carol suddenly moves, hands cradling Therese's cheeks, pushing her head back, gray eyes meeting darker eyes.

"Yes it damn well does, Therese." A tear sneaks out of the corner of Therese's eye and Carol wipes it away with a thumb.

"Just promise me, Carol. You don't give up on her. Rindy loves you, you love her. Harge won't be able to battle that forever. She'll want to see more of you."

"I promise." Carol answers, almost immediately.

Therese nods, she leans in, captures Carol's lips with her own. She can feel Carol's hands slide up into her hair, grip it. The kiss deepens, this time she doesn't want to leave. God, is she falling again, falling without fear, falling without a detective on their tail, falling without Carol being married, falling without Richard sending her love letters, falling with a stable job, falling with the hope that she'll be able to help Carol with Rindy, falling without boundaries.

This time they're free.

This time Therese adjusts and in one swift movement, as if Carol had the same idea, their bodies are fully pressed against each other. Therese's head is still cradled in Carol's hands, but those were against the armrest of the couch. Their legs were tangled together.

Carol wasn't holding back, Therese wasn't pushing away and those thoughts were mirrored in their actions. They knew.

Carol was using a certain form of seduction that Therese only saw in bits, in pieces, in little winks.

 _"Be a good girl," words said after a wink._

One hand fell out of Therese's hair, fingers gliding along her neck, pressing apart the top button of her sweater.

"My angel." Carol said. Except it wasn't whispered, it was said, voice proud, voice stern, emphasis on 'my.'

When Therese sighed out unexpectedly, the breath was loud, bordering on a moan and Carol smiled.


End file.
